“A minute or five.” I giggle and clasp my fingers behind his neck. “I think I am owed a long honeymoon, don’t you?”
“I think so. Do you have a destination in mind?”
“I honestly don’t care where, but… I will say that this place aside, I’m not a beach girl.”
Julian throws back his head and roars with laughter. “Imagine that, a vampire who doesn’t like to go to the beach. I can’t imagine why.”
“Laugh it up, furball,” I tease, gazing up at him. “I have an idea. How about somewhere in the mountains where you can be free to unleash your wolf?”
“You want to spend time with my wolf,” he says slowly, “on our honeymoon. Why exactly?”
“Maybe because I learned another trick while I was in Hell.” I grin and bite my lower lip.
“Oh, yeah? What’s the trick?”
“Don’t you want to be surprised?” I ask.
“No.”
“You aren’t any fun,” I grumble.
“Oh, I’m lots of fun.”
He twirls me around, and we dance as if we have no cares in the world, and I so wish that was the case, but it’s not. I know about the war going on worldwide, about my father’s plan, and we have to try to stop it, but for this second, I’m so happy to be alive again, to be with my love, that I can’t stop from laughing and smiling.
Julian dips me, and I hold onto his shoulder and around his waist tight.
“Don’t worry. I won’t drop you,” he murmurs, slowly straightening us.
This kiss is slow, sensual, and it sets my heart on fire in the best possible way.
When I pull back, I place a hand over his heart, the heart that’s beating in time with mine. It doesn’t matter that I died twice. Our hearts remain in sync.
“I can shapeshift into a wolf,” I murmur.
“You can?” His eyes light up. “I didn’t think—”
“Vampires can’t, but demons…” I beam.
“You’re amazing. Do you know that?”
“I don’t know about that, but I do know that I’m so very grateful you didn’t kill yourself.”
He gapes at me.
“You were going to, after you stopped the war.”
“Yes,” he admits.
“No.”
“The thought of living without you… I did live without you. It was unbearable. I can’t imagine having to go through that for years, for decades. Romelia, you don’t know what it’s like.”
“I know that love conquers all, and we share a soul, and someone can’t live with only half a soul. It all worked out as nature intended.”
“So fate,” he supposes.
“Fate maybe. I think free will and nature can work hand in hand, though.”
“Vine in vine?” he jokes.
“That pun was terrible.”
“It was, but I’d never leaf you.”
I groan. “Just stop now.”
“Aloe you vera much.”
“Julian!”
“Wood you be mine?”
I sigh and rub my forehead before glancing up at him. “You’re my bamboo.”
“We’re mint to be.”
“Stop and let me plant one on you.”
And I pull him close and kiss him as if I’ve died and gone to Heaven.
Chapter 27
Julian
It’s another good ten minutes before Romelia and I leave the cave. As much as I tried to get her to go ahead and talk to her mother by herself, Romelia doesn’t want me out of her sight, and I don’t blame her. I would’ve been watching from the cave anyhow.
I squeeze her hand three times, and she squeezes back four.
I love you.
I love you too.
Her voice in my mind feels so utterly natural, and I grin to myself as I picture us running wild, chasing each other up the side of a mountain. She’s so very much full of surprises, and I can’t wait to hear about what happened to her while she was in Hell. I hope she didn’t have too terrible of a time, but her eyes are alight with the fire of our love, so I know that whatever happened to her, she remains my Romelia always.
Her mother is on the bank, and we skip over the rocks to join her.
Her mother clears her throat. “Julian, we never properly met, did we? I am Caterina Coven.”
“I’m Julian Moonblaze.”
“Yes, husband to my beautiful, talented, strong, fierce daughter. I am… I was against your union from the start, I must admit, but then I don’t know if you told your parents, so I don’t know if you know how they would take to the news.”
My nostrils flare.
She holds up her hands. “I’m burying the lead, I’m afraid. I’m happy to say I was wrong, and I’m proud you are the one my daughter choose, and I’m glad you two are wed, and I just hope, I sincerely do, that the world is ready to accept a vampire and a werewolf, and your children if you have any.”
“Mother!” Romelia sounds positively scandalized. “We don’t even know if I’ll be able too.” She glances at me and then away, her cheeks a slight pink.
“Well, a mother can hope to become a grandmother, can’t she?” her mother teases before turning more serious. “I assume you don’t feel comfortable calling me Mother. You can call me Caterina if you prefer or even nothing at all if that suits you.”
“Mother,” I murmur.
Romelia blinks at me in surprise.
“She brought you back to me. How can I feel anything but love for her?”
“You do remember what I did?” Mother asks.
“To my pack?” I nod. “I also think some people can change.”
“I want to, and to that end…” Mother turns to Romelia. “You’re going to need blood and soon and a lot of it. Why don’t we go and see about getting that tended to while Julian—”
"No," Romelia and I blurt out at the same time.
Mother laughs and nods. “Fair enough. That’s fine. I understand young love.”
“It doesn’t feel young,” I remark.
“Not at all,” Romelia agrees.
“I suppose that’s fair given all you two have been through. Well, as much as I would love to tackle ending the war right this very minute, I think Romelia needs blood and food. You need food too. You both need to rest. After that, we can come up with a—”
The flapping of wings, massive wings, silences Mother, and we turn to gaze at the dragon that lands near us. As soon as the humongous clawed feet touch the ground, the dragon transforms to become the dragon shifter friend Romelia and I made what feels like a lifetime ago.
“You know that saying about ears burning when people talk about you?” she remarks. “It’s true, just so you know. Did someone call for a dragon?”
Romelia bursts out laughing.
“What’s so funny?” the dragon shifter asks.
“You came! We never told you our names, did we? I’m Romelia. This is Julian—”
“He’s your husband, isn’t he?” the dragon shifter asks.
“How do you know that?” I ask.
“I can smell it on you. You have her scent in you.”
“In me?” I repeat.
“Not on him?” Romelia asks.
“Correct. I smell the both of you in both of you.” She shrugs. “Anyhow, I’m Mundra. What’s on the agenda?”
“The stories you two can tell,” Mother murmurs. “We’re looking to try to end a war after we eat and rest,” she informs Mundra.
“Ah, sounds like a bit of fun.”
“You have a strange sense of fun,” Mother mutters.
“That’s why we love her.” Romelia grins. “Do you want to join us for a meal?”
“Why not?”
Not a half-hour later, the four of us are eating at a fancy restaurant. Romelia and her mother already took care of their blood issue. I'm not sure of the specifics, and I don't need to know, but now, whenever Romelia and I gaze at each other, her cheeks turn bright red instead of pink. It's adorable, and my love fo
r her only continues to soar to new heights.
Once we finish eating a seven-course meal—as Mother insisted—Romelia and I both are ready to drop. She purchases two hotel rooms, one for herself and Mundra with two beds and one for Romelia and I. My love and I crawl into bed and sleep in each other’s arms because we know that tomorrow, a battle will start, one that can potentially save thousands and thousands of lives worldwide.
As it turns out, when we wake, it’s dark outside.
I roll over and stare at Romelia. She’s sleeping so peacefully…
Just as she looked when she had been dead and gone.
The urge to shake her awake seizes me, but I suppress the desire and simply brush her hair back from falling onto her forehead.
She stirs, blinks, and stretches before pursing her lips for a kiss all without opening her eyes.
With a laugh, I kiss her, and she stares up at me, looking as sweet as ever.
Her hand cups my face, but then she frowns, furrowing her brow. “It’s night.”
“I noticed.”
“How long did we sleep for?”
“If I have to guess, far longer than we intended.”
At the foot of the bed, we find clothes. Someone, most likely Mother, went to the trouble of securing us pants and shirts. It’s the first time I’ve seen Romelia in anything outside of a skirt or dress, and I can’t help admiring her.
“Mother’s being practical,” Romelia explains. “I have a feeling she thinks we’re going to fly on dragonback.”
"Now, that will be an experience."
Romelia giggles. “And you thought that my wanting to bribe a dragon was ridiculous.”
“Everything really does happen for a reason.”
“Yes, it does,” she says, lifting onto her toes to kiss me.
When we leave our hotel room, Mother and Mundra are just leaving their room. Mother is also wearing pants, having opted out of wearing her long, flowing black dress. Now that I think of it, the dress she had worn when she killed Romelia’s father ironically looked like funeral attire.
“I’ve explained the situation to Mundra,” Mother states. “I’ve also been trying to gather the vast majority of alphas for you to address, Julian.”
My head snaps up. “Me? Why will they listen to me?”
“Aren’t you an alpha yourself?” Mother asks smoothly before turning about and gliding away.
I can’t argue with that.
We follow her to the restaurant next door and eat. Romelia and her mother disappear at one point, most likely to feed, and then I suppose it’s just as well that it’s dark out. Even the moon is covered in clouds as Mundra flies high above the sleeping cities.
Mother murmurs directions for Mundra, and soon enough, we land on a massive plain. Wolves are all around us in all shapes and sizes, and far too many of them are wounded and in various stages of healing.
Mundra lands, and I help Romelia down from the massive dragon, although she doesn’t need any help.
Hand-in-hand, I walk with my love to the center where a dozen wolves are waiting, watching with their amber eyes.
Nervous. I’m nervous, and without a doubt, the alphas can smell my fear. This is ridiculous. I shouldn’t be nervous at all. They’re my fellow alphas. They will respect me and hear me out.
But that doesn’t mean that they will listen to me. That doesn’t mean that they will want the war to end, that they are ready for peace.
“I am Julian Moonblaze,” I say, not shouting. Even so, there is silence all around us.
I shift my weight and realize the grass is slick with blood, but I do not think the bulk of serious fighting has happened here. No, the werewolves moved here for the meeting.
"I am the alpha to a small pack, a pack of two, but I will venture to say that my pack is the most important pack of all."
There’s growling and grumbling around fangs, and one of the tallest and most muscular wolves steps forward and shifts to his human self.
“How dare you bring a vampire here to this meeting!” He beats his chest, and the other wolves, the alphas and the members of their packs, all howl and growl in agreement.
I hold up a hand, but they don’t listen and hardly settle even after their alphas give them a warning growl. I have to give Mother credit. Somehow, she has the alphas somewhat handled despite being a vampire. It makes me wonder if the werewolves don’t realize her husband is dead.
Once the wolves finally settle enough, I say calmly, “My pack is here with me.”
“You mean to say…” The alpha’s gaze falls on Romelia.
I laugh and raise our joined hands. “This doesn’t give it away?”
First, I hold up my hand to reveal my wedding band, and Romelia does the same. Then I hold up the finger Romelia pricked our wedding night. It makes me as hers, and she holds up her arm. The skin is almost perfectly smooth, almost unblemished despite the scar she used to have, but I can see the slight prick from where I marked her. I opted for fangs that night, for bites, but a lot of werewolves will opt for a larger mark produced by claws.
“You bit each other?” the alpha asks with scorn.
Romelia bristles beside me and glances up at me.
I nod.
My wife steps forward. “Yes, we bit each other, and we drank each other’s blood, both before the wedding and then mixed during the ceremony. We have been to Hell and back, and we know that our love is not conventional. That vampires and werewolves are supposed to hate each other, but why? Why do the deaths have to continue?”
“Hey!” one of the wolves shouts. He’s not an alpha, but one of the alphas nods, and the wolf steps forward. He has a thick beard and full mustache, and the curly black mop of hair on his head shakes as he points toward the dragon. “That vampire there, that’s Caterina Coven!”
Romelia swallows hard and glances up at me. “She is… She is my mother.”
“Do you know how many werewolves she has killed over her unnaturally long life?” the werewolf demands.
“Did you forget what I said my last name is?” I ask sharply. “I know who she is.”
“And you forgive her?” the first alpha says with more than a little bit of scorn. “You dare to bring her here—”
“I dare to hope for peace,” I say evenly. “I’ve found love with a vampire, yes, and I can see a better future for us all. What do you think is going to happen if this war of yours continues? It will not go unnoticed for long. The humans aren’t stupid. You’re being reckless and thoughtless, and how many more werewolves are dying fighting the vampires? For what? A demon has been pulling your strings. He wanted the war—”
“Wanted?” another alpha remarks. This one is a female.
Another alpha limps forward, one of his legs lame. Mercy's father. He transforms into his human self and nods to me. "The demon is dead?"
“Yes,” I say firmly, trying to look around for my alpha, for my great-uncle. Is my father here too? He wouldn’t be involved with the fighting, would he? Not when he has so many pups at home, right?
But so many of the others have to have young pups too, and they’re here. They’re fighting?
“For what?” I blurt out. “You’re fighting for what? The demon Magmar wanted to use the war as a means to have all of the werewolves killed, slaughtered.”
“And he wanted all of the vampires to die alongside them,” Romelia states.
The wolves begin to grumble at that.
“Magmar wanted Hell on Earth,” I continue.
“Believe me,” Romelia says, “Hell on Earth is not the place you want to raise a family, and that is what you want, isn’t it? To raise your families? Don’t you want there to be peace for their sake? Why continue to seek out blood?”
Another werewolf starts forward. Jackery Moonblaze, my alpha.
No. My old alpha.
Jackery shifts to his human self, but he continues walking, entering the no man’s land between the werewolves and Romelia and me. He halts two feet from us.
“You went and married without my consent?” he asks, his words a rumble from deep within his chest.
“I found love with a vampire, and no one and nothing will keep me from her. Not her father or her mother or… or anyone.” I lift my chin and stare into his eyes, not backing down, not showing any sign of weakness or fear or doubt.
Jackery nods slowly, and then he sweeps me into a big hug. I’m shocked, and still holding Romelia’s hand, I pat his back.
“Do you have a name for your pack?” Jackery murmurs in my hair so lowly that no one except Romelia and I can hear him.
I glance at Romelia.
We can stay with Moonblaze, she says in my mind.
No. Then we will be tied to my old pack.
That’s not a bad thing.
We need to be our own pack.
All right. I do love Moon.
Yes. Not Shade, though.
She shudders ever so slightly. I love my uncle, and I will tell you about him, but I agree. Not Shade.
Coven?
“Are you sure? My mother…
She is proving herself deserving of a second chance, I point out.
Yes, but we could go with Moonshine or Moonbeam or…
Why can’t our name reflect us both?
Romelia grins and nods, and I smile back at her, loving her so very much, now and always.
I appraise my old alpha, who is watching us with amusement.
“Mooncoven,” I murmur.
Jackery slips to stand behind Romelia and me, and he lifts our joint hands. “Moonblaze recognizes Mooncoven!” he declares.
And that’s when the wolves descend.
Chapter 28
Romelia
It’s absolutely terrifying, the sight of the werewolves rushing toward us with their fangs gleaming. The clouds that have blocked the moon all night have finally drifted, and the fangs look silver in their sharpness.
But the werewolves aren’t bearing down on Julian, the Moonblaze alpha, and me. No, they rush past us, and I whirl around to see that vampires have joined us.
“Moonblaze, halt!” their alpha cries, marching forward.
Blood Haven: Year Three: A Mayhem of Magic World Story Page 17
